Hillary For President!

The liberal press, apparently unchastened by their guy Barack’s disastrous term in office, is gearing up for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 run. Is America really yearning for an old lady president? I guess we will find out. I didn’t believe it for a long time, but it now seems clear that Hillary is determined to reign in the White House until close to her 80th birthday. The Democrats don’t mind; they are a geriatric party and don’t have a plausible candidate who is any younger.

But I digress. We already knew that a movie titled Rodham is in the works. It will focus on Hillary’s role as a 26-year-old staffer on the House Judiciary Committee during Watergate. Since Hillary played no perceptible role in the Watergate affair or its aftermath, the movie could make for a boring couple of hours. On the other hand, actresses like Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon and Amanda Seyfried are reportedly in the running for the role of Ms. Rodham–because, I guess, they look so much like Hillary.

Hillary?

Hillary?

But that isn’t all; far from it. We also have the CNN movie that is described as a feature-length documentary on Mrs. Clinton’s life. CNN’s press release suggests how objective it is likely to be:

CNN Films announced today that it has commissioned a feature-length documentary on Hillary Rodham Clinton from Academy Award-winning director and producer Charles Ferguson. The documentary, currently in pre-production, will take a comprehensive look at the professional and personal life of one of the most powerful women in American politics. It is expected to premiere in 2014 with a theatrical run prior to airing on CNN.

“I am very excited to be making a film about Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose fascinating life and work embody so many of America’s, and the world’s, hopes and challenges. I am delighted and extremely grateful that CNN Films has given me this remarkable opportunity.”

Charles Ferguson is the founder and president of Representational Pictures, Inc. Ferguson produced and directed “No End in Sight: The American Occupation of Iraq” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007. The film, which marked his directorial debut, won several awards including the National Society of Film Critics, New York Film Critics Circle Award, Toronto Film Critics Association Award, and Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award. Ferguson’s critically acclaimed second film “Inside Job” debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010 and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Film.

“Inside Job”? Hmm. Wikipedia explains: “The film is described by Ferguson as being about ‘the systemic corruption of the United States by the financial services industry and the consequences of that systemic corruption.’” There is a certain irony here–the Clinton administration represented the highest-flying moment for the financial industry, with Wall Street titan Bob Rubin as Clinton’s Secretary of the Treasury. Some say that the Clinton administration was the puppet of the financial industry. But somehow I don’t think the Hillary “documentary” will remind us of that bit of history.

Is that it for Hillary promotion? Nope: NBC has announced a four-hour miniseries on Ms. Hillary:

NBC announced here on Saturday that it was preparing a four-hour mini-series based on the life of Mrs. Clinton and hoped to broadcast it before any possible formal declaration that she was running. That would avoid the possibility of other candidates demanding equal time, said Robert Greenblatt, NBC’s top entertainment executive.

Well, that makes sense. They certainly wouldn’t want to have to produce a miniseries about a Republican!

Mr. Greenblatt said NBC bought the project even though it had no script yet, though the deal came with a star attached: Diane Lane, who was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003 for her leading role in the film “Unfaithful.” The Clinton project will be written and directed by Courtney Hunt, who was nominated for an Oscar for writing the film “Frozen River.”

Hillary?

NBC’s release described the project as a mini-series that would “recount Clinton’s life as a wife, politician and cabinet member from 1998 to present.” That would include her run for the presidential nomination in 2008.

The NBC release also said, “The script will begin with Clinton living in the White House as her husband is serving the second of his two terms as president. In the years following, she would eventually become a United States senator, run for president and, ultimately, serve the country as secretary of state.”

This is the kind of publicity that money literally can’t buy. If a man of real accomplishment and virtue like Mitt Romney had had this kind of media support, he might have carried 47 states. But one wonders: how will these multiple filmmakers fill up the hours? NBC reportedly will focus on Hillary’s years as Secretary of State. But what accomplishments, exactly, will it cover? The infamous “overcharged” button? The State Department’s several sex scandals? Syria? Libya? (Does anyone remember what role Hillary played, if any, with respect to the overthrow of Gaddafi?)

Or maybe Benghazi. Aye, there’s the rub.

The lovely and talented Katie Pavlich–her generation’s Megyn Kelly, perhaps–appeared on Fox & Friends this morning to comment on the NBC miniseries. Her appearance is brief but effective:

The funny thing about Hillary Clinton is how vastly her reputation exceeds her accomplishments. In reality, the only reason anyone has heard of her is that she married Bill Clinton. Otherwise, she would have toiled away as an obscure, reasonably competent if obnoxious lawyer. She was a relatively unpopular First Lady who is best remembered for being embarrassed by her husband’s serial infidelities. She served a brief term as a Senator from New York, a role in which she achieved nothing. Then she lost the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama, and punched her ticket during a singularly unsuccessful stint as Secretary of State. Never has she had an original thought, formulated a successful strategy, or stepped out of the shadow of her singular husband.

Hillary!

But none of that matters: Hillary already has the establishment’s enthusiastic backing as she prepares for her next presidential run.